Buses stuck in park as ‘red tape’ holds up driver recruitment

Do you know the name of Cayman’s first financial secretary, the colour of the underside of a parrot’s wings in flight or the distance in miles between George Town and Miami?

If the answer is no, then you might not want to apply for a job as a bus driver in the Cayman Islands.

The curious range of questions – taken from a mandatory test for public transport drivers – is one of a range of administrative hoops that applicants must jump through before they can get behind the wheel of a bus.

The islands’ two major bus companies claim needless red tape is holding up the process of hiring drivers and preventing them from ramping up services and getting unemployed Caymanians back to work as tourists return.

But the Public Transport Board insists the permitting process – which also includes a drug test and a criminal records check – is essential to ensure the safety and comfort of the travelling public. And they argue the written test – based on the Department of Tourism’s ‘Know your Cayman Islands’ courses – is important knowledge for anyone interacting with visitors.

The board acknowledged, however, that some recent applications had taken “longer than normal” to process but insisted those issues have been rectified.

Both Kenrick Webster, of Webster’s Tours, and Nigel Mitten, of Majestic Tours, collectively responsible for almost 50 buses, say it can take several months to get drivers certified to work by the Public Transport Board.

Mitten said he was unable to put his full fleet of buses into service because he currently does not have enough staff – 10 out of 20 buses remain in the depot.

He said, “It takes longer to hire a bus driver than it would to hire someone to drive a fuel truck.”

Mitten says he has no objection to the drug test, medical, traffic and criminal records clearance, though he is sceptical about the nature of the questions on the written test about Cayman’s history and culture.

But, he said, the process took too long and costs in excess of $300 per driver.

Hampering recruitment

Webster said it had been a difficult and expensive two years, maintaining a fleet of 26 buses and paying a skeleton crew to keep them in working order, with the borders closed and almost no income coming in.

Now that the islands are back in business, he is concerned that he can’t get people hired fast enough to put his vehicles back on the road.

He said the expense and length of the process were the biggest challenges. Many candidates drop out or find other jobs before their application is processed.

“It is hampering my recruitment big time,” he said.

“To get to where we need to be, I need ten more drivers. We have good local people that want to work but the system makes it difficult.”

Strange test questions

Both Webster and Mitten argue that the written test has nothing to do with a person’s ability to drive a bus. Anyone they hire already has a group 3 driver’s licence and clean references.

The questions are drawn from the Department of Tourism’s ‘Know Your Cayman Islands’ training courses. The Public Transport Board defended the test this week, saying it was essential that anyone working with visitors had a good knowledge of the islands.

“All tourism industry service providers, particularly those who have direct visitor contact such as drivers of public transport licensed vehicles are encouraged to familiarise themselves with this information, to be able to accurately share historical and cultural facts about the Cayman Islands with visitors.”

But Mitten argues the test goes too far and doesn’t differentiate between tour guides and drivers doing simple airport or hotel transfers.

“I don’t think we have ever had a single tourist ask any of our drivers who the islands’ first financial secretary is,” he said.

He added that it was off-putting to many applicants who were otherwise suited to the work.

“A lot of these guys are practically very capable. They can drive a bus, I don’t have any issues with criminal records or traffic records but they struggle with the test,” he added.

Webster suggests that, if the test is considered necessary, the PTU should fast-track temporary licences for those who have cleared the more critical fitness-to-work and drug tests and give them a longer period to take the written exam. The unit says there is no provision in the law that allows them to do this.

Drugs test challenges

Another concern is that the drugs test can now only be performed at the Health Services Authority.

Webster said he used to get medicals and tests done privately for his drivers, with results processed within 48 hours, but, when there are staff out at the HSA, it can take weeks.

These issues have been a source of frustration for some time, but have reached boiling point in the past months with the return of tourism prompting a recruitment drive.

Both Mitten and Webster say they pay for the full range of tests for all their applicants. But the lack of a definitive start date for people who have been out of work for years, means they often look elsewhere for work, and the businesses end up out-of-pocket.

“I could hire you tomorrow, but I can’t tell you when you can start,” said Mitten.

The Public Transport Board, in a written response to questions from the Compass, acknowledged that there had been occasions when applications had taken “longer than normal” to process, blaming this on changes in membership at board level and insisting this has now been resolved.

The statement said all applications are processed by the Public Transport Unit in the order they are received and then approved by the board at its monthly meetings.

It said the cost to obtain a permit is under $300, with most of those fees going to outside providers, such as the police records department.

“The safety of the travelling public is a responsibility that the PTU takes very seriously on behalf of the Cayman Islands government, and is why relevant information, from the RCIPS for example, forms part of the application,” the statement reads.

Explaining the decision to mandate that drug tests can only be carried out by the Health Services Authority, the board statement added that the forensic science lab at the Cayman Islands Hospital is the only entity approved by government to carry out those screenings with the required level of accuracy.